As Texas Baptists prepare to vote on the future of Baylor University in Waco, the debate has grown increasingly nasty, with charges of deception and skulduggery being leveled on both sides. The Baptist General Convention of Texas will hold its annual meeting next weekend on the campus of Baylor, the world's largest Baptist university. School officials are convinced that fundamentalists are moving to get control.

Tempers flared throughout Baylor's 38-21 victory over Houston on Saturday, and Grant Teaff, the Bears' coach, is still upset at how the Cougars conducted themselves. Teaff said Houston's game captains refused to shake hands with Baylor captains during the pregame coin flip, and that on the Bears' first play from scrimmage the Houston defensive line purposely jumped offside and unloaded on the Baylor offensive line.

Former Baylor basketball player John Wheeler filed a $3-million lawsuit in Dallas, accusing former Baylor coach Jim Haller of helping him purchase steroids and inducing him to take the drugs. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, names Haller, Baylor and Haller's current employer--MBank N.A. in Waco as defendants. Wheeler, 27, and his mother, Nina Wheeler, are listed as plaintiffs. The 7-foot center attended Baylor in 1983-85.

Baylor University, tree-shaded and bordered on one side by the muddy Brazos River, is a place where controversy seldom finds a home. The strife-torn anti-war years barely made a ripple at this, the largest Baptist institution in the world. The commotion when Playboy magazine wanted to photograph female students in the altogether a few years back was about as steamy as it gets. Until now. Baylor, and in particular its president, Dr.